Eddie Jordan is a down-to-earth and entertaining motorsport personality, who originally became widely known as Formula One’s most charismatic team boss. He established and developed Eddie Jordan Racing and later Jordan Grand Prix as a race-winning team simultaneously with building a popular and accessible brand that was recognizable outside of the niche world of motorsport.

DRIVER

Eddie first experienced kart racing in 1970 when working in Jersey because of a bank strike in Dublin. He bought a kart upon his return home and embarked on a driving career which saw him race in the Irish Kart Championship, before he began single seater racing in Formula Ford 1600 in 1974. During 1977 he won three Formula Atlantic races in Ireland and a year later won the Irish Formula Atlantic Championship. He took part in the British Formula 3 Championship with Marlboro Team Ireland in 1979/80 during which he also and made his Formula 2 debut at Donington Park with Team Ireland and tested a Formula One car for McLaren. During 1981 he drove a Porsche 908 in the World Sports Car Championship and a BMW at the famous Le Mans 24 Hour Race. He then retired from racing in order to run his own driver management company and racing team.

TALENT CHAMPION

Aside from his own team interests, Eddie has always been passionate about helping young talent, and he is known for opening the “big break” door for many drivers including: Jean Alesi, Stefan Johannson, Eddie Irvine, Michael Schumacher, Ralf Schumacher, Jarno Trulli, Rubens Barrichello, Damon Hill, Giancarlo Fisichella and Heinz-Harald Frentzen, Johnny Herbert, Martin Brundle. In June 1982 Eddie gave Ayrton Senna his first ever Formula 3 drive.

TEAM OWNER

Eddie Jordan Racing - F3 Champions
Eddie Jordan Racing - F3000 Champions
Jordan Grand Prix - 3rd in F1 World Championship

Eddie set up Eddie Jordan Racing in 1980 and enjoyed huge success - in 1983 he ran Martin Brundle in European Formula 3, finishing second to Ayrton Senna. The team won the British title in 1987 with Johnny Herbert and also gave Damon Hill his first Formula 3 drive. Jordan dominated F3000 in 1989 with Jean Alesi taking the championship.

Inspired by the success of his junior drivers and boosted by a healthy dose of optimism, Eddie established Jordan Grand Prix in 1990 in preparation for the 1991 F1 season. Throughout the 1990s Jordan was the only team to really break the monopoly on F1 success held by Ferrari, Williams and McLaren. Rubens Barrichello secured the team’s first pole position and podium in 1994. Jordan landed a major sponsorship deal with Benson & Hedges in 1996 and secured venture capital equity from Warburg Pincus in 1997, both of which helped attract ex-World Champion Damon Hill. At the 1998 Belgian Grand Prix, Damon Hill and Ralf Schumacher’s finish in first and second place made history, as Jordan Grand Prix became the first team in the sport to win its maiden F1 race with a 1-2. In 1999 Heinz-Harald Frentzen won the French and Italian GPs for Jordan and finished third in the World Championship. The team’s fourth and latest victory came at the Brazilian Grand Prix in 2003 with Giancarlo Fisichella.

Jordan the only team to win Formula 3, Formula 3000 and get a 1-2 in Formula 1 at the same track (Spa).

TV PERSONALITY

During his Formula One team boss days, Eddie was always an extremely popular figure with fans and the media. Happy to speak his mind on any topic, he was frequently called upon to offer an insider’s view on general motorsport issues as well as his own team. Eddie, then as now, never failed to entertain. After selling Jordan Grand Prix in 2005 he made his TV-presenting debut with the Channel 5 series “Bad Boy Racers”, which followed a group of young car crime offenders through a rehabilitation programme. In 2009 he was invited to join the BBC’s new Formula One presenting team and Eddie currently participates in all the Beeb’s TV coverage sharing his unique Grand Prix insights and opinions. To get in touch with Eddie about media work, please click here.